Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Strong and Uplifted

by Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

This week’s parsha of Vayechi
tells of the passing of Yaakov Avinu. The posuk states, “Vayikrivu
yemei Yisroel lomus vayikra levno leYosef” (Bereishis 47:29). As
Yaakov’s final moments of life approached, he called for his son, Yosef. He
urged Yosef not to bury him in Mitzrayim, but in Eretz Yisroel: “Al na
sikbereini beMitzrayim. Veshochavti im avosai…” He asks Yosef to swear that
he will bury him amongst the avos, repeating the request by stating, “Veshochavti
im avosai.”

The Torah generally refers to our forefather as
Yaakov when denoting something that is in the present, while the name Yisroel
connotes eternity. We must understand why in this instance the Torah refers to
him as Yisroel while he was discussing matters relating to the present.
Additionally, why did Yaakov feel it was necessary to repeat the request a
second time? Why did he call only Yosef to his side to make these requests? Why
didn’t he speak to the rest of his children and notify them of this plea?

Regarding this final question, Rashi
explains that Yaakov made the request of Yosef because “hayah beyado la’asos,”
he was the one who was able to carry it out. However, since the Torah refers to
him as Yisroel, this meeting, the conversations, and the request are apparently
matters of eternal value and not just temporal. Thus, these favors Yaakov asked
of Yosef can be understood as matters of longstanding impact.

Perhaps we can understand the request being made
of Yosef on a deeper level bearing in mind the exposition of the Baal
Haturim, in Parshas Vayishlach when the posuk recounts that
Yaakov said to Eisov, “Vayehi li shor vachamor” (Bereishis 32:6).
He writes that Yaakov wasn’t only referring to his ownership of cows and
donkeys, but more significantly, Yaakov was alluding to his two sons who had
the ability to confront Eisov. Yosef who the posuk refers to as shor,
is the alternate power to Eisov; Yissochor who is referred to as a chamor,
has the power of Torah, because of his diligence in its study.

The Ramban at the beginning of the parsha
(47:28) writes, “Yaakov’s descent to Mitzrayim is similar to our present exile
in the hands of the chaya harviis, Romi harasha… The golus
is extending for a long time, and unlike previous exiles, we do not know when
it will end.”

From the words of the Ramban, we see
that golus Mitzrayim contains lessons for us in golus Edom. Thus,
even Yaakov’s discussions with Yosef pertaining to golus Mitzrayim have
relevance to us in our day.

These pesukim tell of cosmic events.
Yaakov was laying the groundwork for survival for his children, and their
children, in golus. He was joining with Yosef to craft a code of
endurance and triumph, igniting that lehavah, the flame that will ultimately
consume Eisov.

We can explain that Yaakov was really making
two distinct requests. Yisroel, the sheim hanetzach, the name that
denotes eternity, was requesting, “Although I am now in Mitzrayim, the most tomei
of all the lands, with wicked people and a wicked king, please do not bury me,
Yisroel, here. Do not bury the netzach Yisroel, the traditions and
beliefs that I received from my fathers, in this impure place. Remain separate
from these profane people. Don’t permit yourself and your children to be
influenced by them. Veshochavti im avosai. I wish to be like my fathers,
Avrohom and Yitzchok, and be a link in a holy chain, with offspring who follow
in my path.”

How will that be accomplished? Yaakov makes it
clear: Not just by asking to be buried on holy soil, but by emphasizing, “Veshochavti
im avosai. I want to rest with my fathers. I want to be connected to them
and attached to their sacred mesorah.”

Yaakov tells Yosef, “You will able to do that
if unesosani miMitzrayim.” While the simple translation of unesosani
is to carry, the word also means to uplift and raise (like the meforshim
explain on the posuk, “Naso es rosh Bnei Yisroel”).

Thus, Yaakov was telling Yosef, “In order to
accomplish my wish to be an av, with sons and grandsons following in my
path, you must raise me and what I stand for over the Mitzri culture.
Raise me higher than Mitzrayim. You, Yosef, my son, have to remain elevated.
Remain above your surroundings. Raise your children to live on a different
plane. That’s how we will remain connected to the avos.”

When Yaakov said, “Unesosani miMitzrayim,”
he was referring to the need to remain above the prevailing tumah of
Mitzrayim and other goluyos of the future. Hence the use of the name
Yisroel. Then, after he expressed his wish for the future, he made his request
for the present: “Ukevartani bekevurosom.”

Yaakov appealed to Yosef and not to the other
brothers, because the matter he was attending to was not simply with respect to
where to bury him, but how to stand up to Eisov and Edom throughout the ages.
Yosef was the antithesis of Eisov. He was the one who had the ability to carry
out Yaakov’s request of transmitting to future generations the secret to
surviving and thriving in the hostile setting of golus.

Additionally, Yaakov perceived that Yosef, the kadosh,
who perfected the middah of yesod through personal purity and
strength, had mastered the ability to transcend the lures of Mitzrayim, the ervas
ha’aretz, the capital of permissiveness and hedonism. That, combined with
his inherent ability to battle the forces of Eisov, is why Yaakov requested
this of Yosef and not his brothers.

The posuk continues: “Vayishova lo
vayishtachu Yisroel al rosh hamittah - Yosef swore that he would do as
his father asked. Yisroel bowed to him in appreciation towards the head of his
bed.”

Once again, the posuk refers to Yaakov
as Yisroel, because he wasn’t just bowing in appreciation of the fact that he
would be buried near his father and grandfather in Eretz Yisroel. The eternal
Yisroel of netzach was bowing to the eternal middah of Yosef.
Yaakov was comfortable in the assurance that his avodah would continue.

Therefore the parsha continues with the
narrative of the brachos that Yaakov gave to the sons of Yosef.

Yosef brought his two sons, the guarantors of
the derech of the avos, the fusion of Bais Yaakov and Bais Yosef
that can negatethe koach of Eisov. Yaakov saw nitzchiyus.
He saw these children of golus, born in impure Mitzrayim, but committed
to derech Yisroel saba. He responded by giving them brachos,the
blessings that have echoed ever since in every Jewish home.

This brochah is the culmination of the parsha
as we have understood it. When Yaakov saw Menashe and Efraim, the sons of
Yosef, he perceived that his offspring would succeed in remaining loyal to his
heritage in the exile. Thus, he said, “…haElokim asher hishalchu avosai
lefonov Avrohom v’Yitzchok haElokim haroeh osi mei’odi ad hayom hazeh. That
same derech that Avrohom, Yitzchok and I have walked on will continue
throughout golus.

“Hamalach hagoel osi mikol ra yevoreich es
haneorim.” Yaakov appreciated that davka Efraim and Menashe carried
a strength that others did not have. The malach who protected Yaakov as
he went into exile from his father’s home protected his grandchildren in their golus.
Yaakov prayed that they would have the tenacity and determination in golus
Mitzrayim and golus Romi to remain loyal to the precepts of Avrohom
and Yitzchok: “veyikorei vohem shemi vesheim avosai Avrohom v’Yitzchok.”

The posuk in Chagai (2:9) relates
the prophecy that the second Bais Hamikdosh would be more glorious than
the first: “Gadol yihiyeh kevod habayis hazeh ha’acharon min harishon.”
Rav Tzadok Hakohein of Lublin asks that this prophecy is apparently refuted by
the fact that many of the revealed nissim of the first Bais Hamikdosh,
such as ruach hakodesh and the Heavenly fire, were absent in the second Bayis.
How, then, can the novi say that the splendor of the second BaisHamikdosh
would exceed that of the first?

Rav Tzadok quotes the Sefer Heicholos,
which explains that in the absence of those open miracles and being removed
from the tangible presence of the Shechinah, more glory was present,
because the people had to toil and work hard on their own to create the
kedushah. The glory that arises from hard work and struggle is superior to
that which is brought about as a gift from Heaven. People who work hard for
their income appreciate what they have much more than those who live lives of
dependency.

Yaakov perceived that a new era was beginning.
He delighted in seeing that Efraim and Menashe, children of golus, were
determined to live as their avos did. He determined that they would
serve as the paradigm for generations to come, portraying that it is possible
to rise to high and exalted levels even when trapped in a place one doesn’t
want to be.

The mussar great, Rav Naftoli Amsterdam,
once delivered a shmues in the Slabodka yeshiva on Taanis
Esther. He surveyed the room filled with young people and began to weep. “I
am so jealous of you,” he said. “You are all young bochurim, each with
an active yeitzer hora. I am already an old man; my yeitzer hora
has quieted down. I no longer have that same drive and push towards the
pleasures of this world... I’m envious of you.”

Rav Naftoli lauded the opportunities of young
people to bring about kavod Shomayim, possessed as they are with an
energetic yeitzer hora. The glory those bochurim bring about is
similar to that ofthe golus. It is the opportunity to rise with
grandeur above all temptations, deterrents, difficulties and hindrances.

After learning that his beloved son, whom he
had not seen in twenty-two years, was alive, Yaakov Avinu hurried down to
Mitzrayim. On the way, he stopped in Be’er Sheva (46:1). The Medrash
states that he stopped there in order to cut cedar trees for use in the
construction of the Mishkon when his grandchildren would eventually be
redeemed from golus Mitzrayim.

In the midst of the commotion and excitement,
Yaakov Avinu remained focused on his mission of leading his progeny into golus.
He maintained his equanimity, ensuring that his children would have the
supplies they would need to exist in golus, and when they would be
redeemed.

Perhaps there is a deeper significance here as
well. Yaakov brought cedar trees, because, tall and proud, they are a symbol of
steadfastness and strength. He was hinting to his children that if they would
stand like arozim, unyielding and proud, they would survive the golus.

Golus is
grueling, dangerous and long, but with the firmness of the erez, it is
possible to emerge whole and pure. As we endure this period, it behooves us to
remain resolute, resisting temptation to sin and sink. We must remain united in
our drive and determination not to splinter and divide. Division has caused so
many of our problems, historically and presently. The awful situation
confronting the olam haTorah in Eretz Yisroel was brought on by
divisions. It caused the olam haTorah to lose its voice in the current
Knesset. Thankfully, that government has been brought down. Now, fresh splits
have cast a pall on the possibility of repealing the destructive laws. Much
pain and anguish has already been caused and the election season is barely
underway.

Success, and sometimes our very existence, in golus
is tenuous. We must count and appreciate our blessings while we have them.

A young Israeli kollel fellow who was
traveling on a bus found himself sitting next to an elderly Russian man. The
man seemed very simple. The fellow didn’t think much of him and remained
focused on his Gemara as the Russian man looked out the window.

Finally, the yungerman felt it improper
not to acknowledge the man’s presence, even if it took him away from his
learning for a moment. Since it was before Yom Kippur, he wished the man
a good year. The old man nodded, shared a toothless smile, and
returned the greeting.

The yungerman imagined that, unlearned
as he was, the Russian probably fasted on Yom Kippur, so he ventured to
wish him an easy fast as well.

The man told the yungerman that way
back, decades ago, he was incarcerated in the Russian gulag. While there, he
was forced to work long, hard hours, without a day off. However, he was
determined that he would fast on Yom Kippur, no matter the difficulty.
He searched desperately for an excuse to refrain from working on that day in
order to be able to endure the difficult fast.

Finally, his friend suggested that he should
fake a toothache and go to the infirmary. The authorities didn’t care much for
the inmates, so they would immediately diagnose an infection and pull the
tooth, the friend suggested. The pain would be intense, as they would perform
the procedure without anesthetic, but it would at least earn him a day’s
reprieve from work.

The Russian fellow completed his story: “I
tried it and it worked. In fact, every year that I was in the work camp, I did
the same thing. I would tell them that I had a toothache and they would pull
out a tooth. I was there for six years, and six times I was able to fast on Yom
Kippur. That’s why I say that here it is easy to fast.”

The man finished his story and smiled. Once
again, the kollel fellow noticed his missing teeth, but this time, that
toothless smile was more radiant and beautiful than any smile the yungerman
had ever seen.

His was the smile of succeeding in golus.

When Moshiach comes, thousands of Jews
like that Russian man will line up to greet him. Many will be bearing bruises,
missing teeth, lost jobs, and the scars of daunting nisyonos and
tragedies. They will stand there, the children of Efraim and Menashe, tall
through it all.

Tears, scorn, obstacles. The lot of the Jew in golus.
Yet eventually triumphant.

The Torah (49:1 and Rashi inter loc)
relates that after he blessed his grandchildren, Yaakov gathered the family
together and said that he would tell them what would happen at the End of Days.
Yaakov was inspired to reveal the time of Acharis Hayomim,as he
saw the unity, the shared mission, and the special kochos of his
descendants. He saw that although they were born in the exile, Efraim and
Menashe possessed the strengths of Yosef. He was comforted that his offspring
would be able to withstand the golus and would merit redemption at the
End of Days.

Alas, the very nature of golus is that
there is a film of darkness and the end must remain hidden. We cannot fathom or
understand the ways of Hashem, but through it all we maintain our emunah
and bitachon that the end, the keitz that Yaakov visualized, is
approaching.

Through smiles and tears, good years and bad,
generous hosts and disdainful ones, we follow the example of Yaakov Avinu’s
cedar trees, of Yosef’s strength, of the glory of Efraim and Menashe. We remain
strong, honest, incorruptible, united, and committed to each other and our
goals, knowing that if we continue to persevere, we will soon be in a better
place.